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Wednesday, 2 July 2014

The Indians had a good long day in the field as sun shined brightly over the County Ground in Derby. The bowlers finished Day one of their second practice match, against Derbyshire, conceding 326 runs for 5 wickets in 90 overs. (Usefull Link: Report: Leicestershire vs Indians –Tour Match)

All the bowlers except Mohammad Shami had a bowl on the day. Shami didn’t take field as a precautionary measure for a mild strain in his left calf. He will bowl in the second innings, if there is one. ( Full Coverage: India Tour England-2014)

While the bowlers sweated it out, the batsmen took turns to go off the match field and spend time in the nets behind the ground. MS Dhoni was in the nets in the beginning of the last session, handing over the keeping gloves to Wriddhiman Saha and captaincy duties to Virat Kohli. He returned on the field later and also bowled the last over of the day, much to the delight of the crowd. Every ball from the Indian captain was met with applause.

Among the Indian pacers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the most impressive in terms of control and accuracy with figures of 13-3-24-0. Pankaj Singh (14-3-63-1) started off well, opening the bowling with Bhuvi and drew first blood by getting opener Paul Borrington out for a duck. But there were a few expensive overs in his second spell, including a 20-run over against Wes Durston, who top scored with 95.

Against Varun Aaron, the Derbyshire batsmen used the bowler’s pace to score a few quick runs. Ishwar Pandey bowled decently and also got a wicket against his name when he clean bowled Chesney Hughes in his first spell in the morning.

Stuart Binny bowled well within his limitations and stuck to his strength of being accurate. He was rewarded with a return catch that got rid of Durston.

After striking in his first over – the last before lunch – Jadeja continued to hold one end for 10 more overs. He added to his wickets when he got half-centurion Ben Slater (54) caught behind by MS Dhoni. Jadeja’s spell read 11-3-27-2.

Ishant Sharma continued his struggle with the front foot from Leicester, bowling nine no-balls in 12 overs. He also bowled far too many loose deliveries for the batsmen to score some easy runs. He finished with 12-1-49-0.